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Voters in Clinton Ad Strike at Obama

By Kate Phillips April 14, 2008 8:43 pmApril 14, 2008 8:43 pm

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has just released a new TV ad for Pennsylvanians, featuring citizens (with no name identifications) who express their upset with Senator Barack Obama’s remarks about small-town voters.

The script is as follows:

Announcer: Barack Obama said that people in small towns “cling to guns or religion…as a way to explain their frustrations…”

Woman 1: I was very insulted by Barack Obama.

Man 1: It just shows how out of touch Barack Obama is.

Woman 2: I’m not clinging to my faith out of frustration and bitterness. I find that my faith is very uplifting.

Man 2: The good people of Pennsylvania deserve a lot better than what Barack Obama said.

Woman 1: Hillary does understand the citizens of Pennsylvania better.

Woman 3: Hillary Clinton has been fighting for people like us her whole life.

To recap, the two Democratic candidates both went at it over this controversy today, as the primary on April 22 drew even closer. Mr. Obama continued to defend and explain his remarks from a California donor-session last week. Both he and Senator Clinton appeared before a group of manufacturing workers today in Pittsburgh. And Senator Obama went up with an ad this morning, using his best Pennsylvania weapon, Senator Bob Casey, to attest to the candidate’s understanding of issues in the state.

And in a late meeting with the editorial boards of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News, Senator Obama acknowledged that he misspoke but said he didn’t lie, according to a former journalistic colleague of ours, Will Bunch, who writes the blog Attytood.

As Hillary Clinton continues to insist that she has “no relationship” with shady indicted real estate investor Tony Rezko, the facts seem to indicate otherwise. According to records, Rezko donated $15,000 to the Democratic National Committee in March 2000. At the time, the committee was helmed by longtime Clinton ally Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, who endorsed Hillary Clinton on Wednesday. While it’s possible that Rendell and the Clintons discussed neither the donation nor the donor, it’s not likely.

This morning, on the Today show, Clinton was caught off guard when NBC’s Matt Lauer showed a picture of herself, Rezko and husband Bill. Asked if she remembered meeting the man she accused of being a slumlord, she sad no.

“No, I don’t,” Clinton told Lauer. “You know, I probably have taken
hundreds of thousands of pictures. I don’t know the man, I wouldn’t know him if he walked in the door. I don’t have a 17-year relationship with him,” Clinton said Friday. “There is a big difference between standing somewhere taking a picture with someone you don’t know, haven’t seen since, and having a relationship.”

People who have been knocking on doors in Pennsylvania have a very different take on this issue than Hillary Clinton’s campaign. This commercial is really for the superdelegates. The results I’ getting from people who have knocked on hundreds of doors in the last 72 hours suggest that the average rural PA voter understood exactly what Obama was saying and he’s in their corner.

Many are for Hillary and won’t change their minds about that, but they certainly aren’t going to punish Obama for speaking some truths just because he inelegantly used the word “cling”. These same people after all, have already forgiven Hillary for lying about Bosnia even though they resent her for doing it.

Expectations of a huge vote swing over this in PA are off the mark and if Hillary overplays her hand, it will backfire on her. People are very angry about the economy and there is strong disappointment and even bitterness among many.

The ad itself is decidedly negative and distorting but that’s been Hillary’s campaign style. It reinforces the strident dislike that many people feel towards her and her negative ratings will go up among Democrats.

A candidate for high public office listens to his people in order to understand their problems and gauge the emotional intensity with which they regard these problems. He candidly shares and applies his findings, organizing the consent of the governed and inspiring fellow citizens in common effort.

This commercial is so unconvincing it’s laughable. Hillary, down with Penn., blue collar folks? A person who has spent the past 25 years supporting neo-liberal, free market policies via her husband’s passing of free-trade bills that have sent tens of thousand of jobs overseas?

I just don’t understand Billary’s logic? Do they think people are that stupid?

This is pretty sickening stuff. Has the Clinton camp spent the last three days rounding up these “concerned Pennsylvanians”? They use the exact same words and phrases that Mrs. Clinton has used in her attacks on Obama’s comments. Its an offputting ad, and one which I think will hurt her in the end.

Hey come on – isn’t someone in the press going to step up and call it as it should be – The Clinton’s on on track to win at any costs – Hilary will lose the democratic nomination, in doing so she has taken calculated steps to damage Obama so badly he loses the November Election – then to top it all off the Clinton’s, Bill and Hilary togther as elder statesman can proceed to the speaking circuit – claiming victory by expousing – we told you, Hilary was the right and only choice in 2008. Only problem is – what about the best interests of the Country – rather then the best interests of the CLINTON’s. A pair who will do anything to maintain the “always win” reputation and legacy, something they so desperately want, need, and desire as they fade off into their golden years.

The richest thing about this commercial is that none of these people look one bit like the folks Obama supposedly insulted. When she shows this commercial of urban and suburban yuppies to these people, she will learn new dimensions of the word condescending. I mean they’ll look so kindly on these people being offended on their behalf. That’s so nice of them.

I think what Obama was talking about is the fact that people have chosen to vote on issues like guns and religion because they feel helpless on issues like healthcare and the economy. He may have phrased it unfortunately, but in no way was he being elitist.

I will not vote for the lesser of two evils, and “hold my nose” if Clinton wins the nomination. All may be fair in politics and war, but I would not do it for Bush and I will not do it now. If I’m an “elitist” for being bitter about the current state of affairs in this country, than so be it. I chided a friend recently for not voting for a Democrat, but I’m beginning to see little difference between Clinton and McCain.

January seems so long ago. I used to feel comfortable with the idea of either Obama or Clinton winning the Democratic nomination. But after Clinton’s terrible displays of pettiness and pandering–illustrating that she will stoop to any level in her attempts to secure a handful of votes–the thought of her being the Democratic nominee makes me wince.

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